Partnerships for Civic Engagement Alison Handy Twang Center for - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Partnerships for Civic Engagement

Alison Handy Twang Center for Civic Engagement, Binghamton University Katherine Dillon Partnership Specialist, U.S. Census Bureau

UNITED WAY OF BROOME COUNTY: PARTNERING FOR A PURPOSE NOVEMBER 1, 2019

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C e n t e r f o r C i v i c E n g a g e m e n t

Center for Civic Engagement

The Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) cultivates partnerships that strengthen communities and develop active and engaged citizens.

 Promote community service opportunities to students  Manage community-based programming  Support faculty teaching courses with a community

component

 Voter registration, voter engagement and democratic

participation

 Support students in developing community-based

projects/initiatives or taking action on community issues

10/31/2019 BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY

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C e n t e r f o r C i v i c E n g a g e m e n t

Voter Engagement at Binghamton University

• Voter Registration
• 1,000+ students registered at

new student orientation

• 60 class presentations

reaching 3,000+ students in 2018

• Student organization outreach
• Regular tabling
• Pre-populated on-campus

forms

• Mass communications
• Forms included in welcome

packets at off-campus apartments

• Voter Turnout
• On-campus polling place
• Election Day party
• Off-campus assistance table

and referral slips for polling places

• Candidate questionnaires

printed in the Pipe Dream

• Mass communications
• Targeted messages to off-

campus students

• Stamps and envelopes for

absentee ballots

• Candidate events and debate

viewing parties

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C e n t e r f o r C i v i c E n g a g e m e n t

Voter Engagement at Binghamton University

• Our work is making a difference!
• Student voting rate has increased in every local,

state and federal election since 2012

• 10.2 percentage point increase in 2016
• 23.2 percentage point increase in 2018
• 315% increase in on-campus turnout in 2018

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C e n t e r f o r C i v i c E n g a g e m e n t

Why does voting matter?

• Elected officials pay more attention to people who vote,

so if you don’t vote you are taking your voice and the issues you care about off the table

• Local elected officials have responsibility for policing,

education, housing, transportation and more

• Local elections have lower turnout so a single vote (or

the votes of friends you get to the polls) have greater impact

• Cities and states can take action when there is gridlock

at the federal level (climate change, marriage equality, gun control, etc.)

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C e n t e r f o r C i v i c E n g a g e m e n t

Why should your organization be civically engaged?

• The communities you serve may face additional barriers

to making their voice heard

• You can raise awareness of your mission and purpose
• We need all voices at the table to make our democracy

work

• Voting is habit forming

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C e n t e r f o r C i v i c E n g a g e m e n t

Rules for 501(c)(3) Organizations

“…prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in - or intervening in – any political campaign on behalf of or in

• pposition to any candidate for elective public office.”

You May Not:

• Endorse candidates
• Make campaign contributions
• Rate or rank candidates
• Allow unequal use of your facilities or resources to

candidates

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C e n t e r f o r C i v i c E n g a g e m e n t

There is a lot you can do!

501(c)(3)s may participate in voter engagement and education activities and talk to candidates about the issues:

• Voter registration
• Provide information on voting processes
• Host a candidate forum
• Publish candidate questionnaires

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C e n t e r f o r C i v i c E n g a g e m e n t

Organizations May Also

• Support or oppose ballot measures (this is considered

lobbying)

• Continue advocacy or lobbying activities
• Especially on issues you have a history of advocating/lobbying

for

• Be careful about the perception of using issue advocacy to

influence how people vote

• Remember to track lobbying expenses and report as

required by law

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C e n t e r f o r C i v i c E n g a g e m e n t

Other Notes

• Offer equal time to all candidates
• Voter engagement should be carried out not to support

a candidate but to encourage all people to participate and have voice

• Be careful about perception
• 501(c)(4)s can participate in political campaign activity

and have more leeway in lobbying activities

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C e n t e r f o r C i v i c E n g a g e m e n t

Tips for Success

• Start small—maybe include voter registration forms as

part of your intake process

• Take advantage of existing resources and partner with
• ther organizations—share candidate guides from the

League of Women Voters or transport your clients to candidate forums

• Stay informed! Make sure you provide accurate, up to

date information

• Remember that there are no “off” election years and

civic engagement is a year-round activity

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U.S. Census Bureau

Largest statistical agency in the U.S. Leading source of quality data about the nation’s people, places and economy conducting more than 130 Census Bureau Surveys and Programs

• Demographic Programs
• Decennial Census
• American Community Survey
• Current Population Survey
• American Housing Survey
• Economic Programs
• Economic Census (Years ending in 2 & 7)
• Census of Governments (Years ending in 2 & 7)

The 2020 Census

Count everyone once, only once and in the right place.

• Increasingly diverse and growing population
• 330 million people
• Over 140 million housing units
• Mandated by Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution
• Conducted every 10 years ending in zero since 1790
• Representation and Funding

The Census is Safe, Easy, & Important!

2020 Census – It Is Important

• Determines the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of

Representatives

• Defines congressional and state legislative districts, school districts

and voting precincts

• Determines the annual allocation of $675 billion dollars in federal

funding

• Medicaid, SNAP, Hwy Planning, Section 8 Housing, Special Education

Grants, S-CHIP, Title I Grants, National School Lunch Program, WIC, Head Start, Foster Care, Health Center Programs

• Provides insight to governments, business and community planning

groups for planning purposes

Provides population benchmarks for nearly every other United States survey

2020 Census – It Is Safe

• Private information is never published, including names,

addresses (including GPS coordinates) and telephone numbers.

• The Census Bureau collects information to produce statistics.

Personal information collected by the Census Bureau cannot be used against respondents by any government agency or court.

• Census Bureau employees are sworn to protect confidentiality

for life.

• Violating Title 13 is a serious federal crime. Violators are subject

to severe penalties, including a federal prison sentence of up to five years, a fine of up to $250,000, or both.

2020 Census – It Is Easy

• Four ways to respond in 2020
• Online
• Phone
• Paper
• Personal Visit by Census Employee
• Name, sex, age and DOB, race, Hispanic origin, stay elsewhere,

relationship, household questions (pop count, undercount, housing tenure, phone number)

• Language Support
• Internet and phone self-response in 12 languages
• Language guides and glossaries in 59 languages

We will never ask for:

• Your social security number.
• Money or donations.
• Anything on behalf of a political party.
• Your bank or credit card account numbers.

Hard To Count Populations & Geographies

www.census.gov/roam

• Developed to identify

hard-to-survey areas

• Provides a demographic

and socioeconomic characteristic profile using American Community Survey (ACS) estimates

• Low Response Score

(LRS) is a metric to predict the percentage

• f households who will

not self-respond to the Decennial Census

• Darker census tracts are

harder to survey than lighter census tracts

Overcoming Obstacles through Partnerships

• Your Trusted Voice to encourage everyone’s participation
• Local knowledge and insight of the community to reach

everyone with the Census Bureau’s messaging — The impact of a complete count for the community — 2020 Census will count every person living in the U.S. — Privacy; Confidentiality of responses — Employment Opportunities Our Partners:

• Elected Officials
• College and Universities
• School Districts and BOCES
• Libraries
• Local Government Offices
• Not For Profits
• Service Providers
• Advocacy Groups
• Community Organizations
• Faith-Based Groups
• Media Outlets
• Local Businesses

Partnering in Support of the 2020 Census

How WE support Partners

• Promotional Materials
• Flyers (general and targeted)
• Posters
• In-language
• Content
• Sample message for email or blog
• Drop in articles
• Social media content and links
• Graphics

www.census.gov/partners/2020- materials

• Partnership presence
• Connecting Partners with other

partners

What YOU can do now!

• Share job recruitment

information

• Start the Census conversation

Safe, Easy & Important

• Start or join a Complete Count

Committee (CCC)

• Identify opportunities to include

Census messaging, materials, or staff in your activities, programming and events

Data Dissemination Program

• Free Resource to YOU
• Opportunities to teach the public how to access our data
• Data Presentations
• Data Access Workshops and Training Sessions
• Webinars
• Data and Survey Inquiries
• All tools and data available at www.census.gov
• American FactFinder
• Census Business Builder
• My Congressional District
• OnTheMap

1-844-ASK-DATA census.askdata@census.gov www.census.gov/academy

Thank You!

Katherine (Kate) Dillon Partnership Specialist U.S. Census Bureau New York Regional Census Center (518) 951-9873 katherine.d.dillon@2020census.gov Broome, Tioga, Tompkins, Cortland & Chenango Counties Partnership Program Outreach Materials & CCC Resources www.2020census.gov/partners Alison Handy Twang Associate Director Center for Civic Engagement Binghamton University (607) 777-3083 atwang@binghamton.edu binghamton.edu/cce